We made toasted bagel s this morning. Then around 10:00 w e drove to the Virgin of Guadalupe Church gym for the winter weekly market.
Suzette bought a box of note cards and a plasma cut anodized steel crow.
Then we visited the plaza, looking for the new chocolate shop, which we found located in the passage from the square to the John Dunn complex. We were amazed by the quality of the chocolate and the packaging of Chokola’s offerings. We then stopped at Mesa Edge Gallery to look at several Angie Yazzie pots that were lovely, but expensive.
We then drove to CID’s to catch the bus to the Ski Basin for the Willamette Valley wine tasting and fried chicken lunch, which is one of the special events at this year’s Taos Winter Wine Festival. We were a few minutes early, so we went into The Cellar, a new wine and spirits shop, located behind Cid’s. It was a revelation, a truly wonderful store with a brilliant selection of labels that demonstrated breath and knowledge.
A few minutes before 11:30 we went to the bus stop but the bus did not come on time. I discovered that one must text the bus for a pick up, so at 11:40 we drove to the ski valley, arriving at 12:05, just in time to grab a glass of wine and see the first serving o& fried chicken filled rolls and coleslaw. The chicken had a sweet and spicy batter that was interesting. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Argyle was pouring its 2014 Brut, its Rose’ champagne and its Pinot Noir. I talked to the winemaker and told him how impressed I was with the softening and increased elegance of the wines. There were several other Willamette producers pouring including Beaux Freres Reserve Pinot, Brown serving both a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, and one other.
By 2:15 we had eaten and drunk as much as we could, so went back down the mountain. We loved this event in the warm sun on the patio of Snakedance Lodge with a slight cool breeze off the ski slope.
We returned to The Cellar so I could buy a bottle of Eden’s Ice Cider Liquor and Suzette went to CID’s to buy a bottle of Crosse and Blackwell mint sauce for the rack of lamb.
We then drove to the Plaza and walked to Chokola, where we bought a chocolate bar with an Erin Currier painting on the label for Melissa and a container of three different mousses for dessert.
We returned to the house and rested until 5:30.
Barry put on the Max Evans documentary he just finished. It was fabulous. It made me want to read a Max Evans book.
Then after we finished watching the documentary we started cooking, or rather Barry snapped the asparagus and tossed them with salt and pepper and olive oil.
Then Suzette the grilleta did her magic. She made a glaze by adding sugar to the mint sauce and then basting the rack of lamb with the glazed then grilled the asparagus until soft but not blackened and then wrapped the asparagus in aluminum foil to let them continue to cook. She then grilled the lamb to medium rare. I opened the Clavijo Gran Reserva Tempranillo from Rioja and then poured glasse
s of it. Barry formed the PPI risotto with pieces of asparagus into patties and sautéed them on the stove until the bottoms were browned and then placed the skillet under the broiler until the tops were lightly browned, which gave the risotto a toothy crisp texture, which I loved., especially after a Barry drizzled the top of each finished patty with red balsamic vinegar.
All said, this was an exceptionally good meal. Everything was cooked to perfection and the wine was silky smooth.
After dinner I opened and poured glasses of Sophia, a bubbly wine made from Sauvignon Blanc by Coppola Winery that I had cellared for about ten years. It had a slight sherry flavor, which Suzette found attractive with the mousses. We bought a ginger lemon, white chocolate, and a regular chocolate mousse that the attendant at Chokola packed in layers. Suzette dipped a bit of each layer by digging a large spoon deeply into the container.
A pretty fabulous finish to a pretty fabulous meal. Since Chokola controls the processing of everything it makes from the roasting of the cacao nibs to the making of the mousse, they produce products that are superior to and other chocolatier I have found. For example, the mousses were silky smooth. Likewise, the Coffee and hot chocolate blend we shared in the morning was also silky smooth. A real treat.
The key to the meal was buying 2.25 lb. bag of large fresh asparagus and the rack of lamb at Costco on Tuesday and buying the Arborio rice at CID’s on Friday.
Bon Appetit
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